UK Becoming litigious country
Over recent years the UK has become an extremely litigious country .’
In authoritative detail, evaluate to what extent you agree with the above statement.
A popular public perception of the UK is that it, as the US has also been described, has become a ‘litigation nation’ meaning that the country has an extremely high number of court cases and the most minor of situations are brought through courts in order to resolve the issues that have arisen. It seems for every injury or loss suffered someone other than the individual who suffers the loss is to blame and that where there is blame there is a claim – and there’s always blame(1). It seems society no longer appears to accept the concept of a genuine accident. This can be seen as a dangerous route to go down as a large amount of money is given out for compensation claims and many abnormal legal actions are taken which could, in time, result in the legal, medical and insurance systems grinding to a halt. There are many cases which back up this portrayal that the UK has of being this ‘litigation nation’, however there are also a number of things which contradict this view.
A factor which gives the perception that the UK is this litigation nations is that fact that claims for injuries sustained by car crashes are on the rise,(2) which is contradictory as the number of crashes that take place has fallen.(3)Up to 90% of all car crash claims are for small amounts of money due to whiplash, with people receiving up to £20,000 for this resulting in a huge pay out of nearly one billion pounds a year. Undoubtedly a high number of these people are fraudsters and fakers, up to a reported 60%,(4). “Whiplash injuries can have debilitating consequences for those who suffer them. However, some of the increase in whiplash claims will have been due to fraud or exaggeration.” Launching the report by the Transport Select Committee, the Chair Louise Ellman MP considered how some people
In authoritative detail, evaluate to what extent you agree with the above statement.
A popular public perception of the UK is that it, as the US has also been described, has become a ‘litigation nation’ meaning that the country has an extremely high number of court cases and the most minor of situations are brought through courts in order to resolve the issues that have arisen. It seems for every injury or loss suffered someone other than the individual who suffers the loss is to blame and that where there is blame there is a claim – and there’s always blame(1). It seems society no longer appears to accept the concept of a genuine accident. This can be seen as a dangerous route to go down as a large amount of money is given out for compensation claims and many abnormal legal actions are taken which could, in time, result in the legal, medical and insurance systems grinding to a halt. There are many cases which back up this portrayal that the UK has of being this ‘litigation nation’, however there are also a number of things which contradict this view.
A factor which gives the perception that the UK is this litigation nations is that fact that claims for injuries sustained by car crashes are on the rise,(2) which is contradictory as the number of crashes that take place has fallen.(3)Up to 90% of all car crash claims are for small amounts of money due to whiplash, with people receiving up to £20,000 for this resulting in a huge pay out of nearly one billion pounds a year. Undoubtedly a high number of these people are fraudsters and fakers, up to a reported 60%,(4). “Whiplash injuries can have debilitating consequences for those who suffer them. However, some of the increase in whiplash claims will have been due to fraud or exaggeration.” Launching the report by the Transport Select Committee, the Chair Louise Ellman MP considered how some people
Bibliography: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/transport-committee/news/whiplash-report/ http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/about-the-scottish-court-service/the-scottish-civil-courts-reform